Week 10 NFL Power Rankings: Vikings Inch Closer to the Top
Josh Frey
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We are officially halfway through the NFL season, and in this week’s power rankings, we see the Minnesota Vikings inch ever closer to the top spot after their sixth-straight victory. Here’s where every team stands heading into Week 10 of the season.
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1. Philadelphia Eagles, 8-0
- Last Week: 29-17 win @ HOU
- Trending: —
- This Week: 11/14 vs. WSH
Things didn’t start out too hot for the Philadelphia Eagles, but they did manage to get back on track in the second half. The only undefeated team in the NFL maintains hold of the top spot in the league with this win.
2. Kansas City Chiefs, 6-2
- Last Week: 20-17 win vs. TEN
- Trending: +1
- This Week: 11/14 vs. JAX
The Chiefs offense had some trouble navigating their way through the Tennessee Titans defense, but for whatever reason, this always happens when these two teams meet. However, unlike last year, the Chiefs managed to win the game.
3. Minnesota Vikings, 7-1
- Last Week: 20-17 win @ WSH
- Trending: +1
- This Week: 11/13 @ BUF
The Vikings keep finding themselves in some tough situations, but they always manage to dig their way out. Kirk Cousins took a few brutal hits throughout Sunday afternoon, but he helped the Vikings mount a 10-point comeback. These next three weeks will prove whether or not the Vikings truly belong in the top-five.
4. Buffalo Bills, 6-2
- Last Week: 17-20 loss @ NYJ
- Trending: -2
- This Week: 11/13 vs. MIN
Josh Allen got a little banged up this week during Buffalo’s loss, but overall, this Bills team collectively played one of their worst games of the season. We’ll see what happens when the hot Vikings come to town next Sunday.
5. Baltimore Ravens, 6-3
- Last Week: 27-13 win @ NO
- Trending: +1
- This Week: Bye
Roquan Smith was an incredible addition to this defense. As for the other side, if the Ravens can ever get fully healthy on offense, they’ll be a very scary team down the stretch of the season. Looking at the rest of their schedule, a 12-win season is not out of the realm of possibility.
6. Dallas Cowboys, 6-2
- Last Week: Bye
- Trending: -1
- This Week: 11/13 @ GB
Dallas lost a little ground in the NFC East during their bye week, but this weekend, they get a favorable matchup with the reeling Green Bay Packers.
7. Seattle Seahawks, 6-3
- Last Week: 31-21 win @ ARI
- Trending: —
- This Week: 11/13 @ TB
While the rest of the NFC West continues to stumble all over themselves, the Seattle Seahawks have found ways to consistently win in convincing fashion. This is their fourth consecutive win by double-digits.
8. Miami Dolphins, 6-3
- Last Week: 35-32 win vs. CHI
- Trending: +1
- This Week: 11/13 vs. CLE
This Dolphins offense looks special when it’s firing on all cylinders. Tua Tagovailoa may emerge as an MVP candidate by the end of the season if Miami keeps winning games.
9. New York Giants, 6-2
- Last Week: Bye
- Trending: -1
- This Week: 11/13 vs. HOU
The Giants likely have been itching to get back on the field since last week’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks. They get that chance against the Houston Texans who are also coming off a longer rest period after their Thursday night game.
10. Cincinnati Bengals, 5-4
- Last Week: 42-21 win vs. CAR
- Trending: +1
- This Week: Bye
Ja’Marr Chase may be out for the foreseeable future, but Joe Mixon decided to take matters into his own hands this week. The Bengals running back had over 200 yards from scrimmage and scored five touchdowns as Cincinnati dominated the Carolina Panthers.
11. Tennessee Titans, 5-3
- Last Week: 17-20 loss @ KC
- Trending: -1
- This Week: 11/13 vs. DEN
The winning streak may be over for the Tennessee Titans, but they sure didn’t go down without a fight. Considering that they are still trying to get a rookie QB up to speed, it’s impressive enough that they are able to remain competitive with average teams, let alone one of the best groups in the AFC.
12. New York Jets, 6-3
- Last Week: 20-17 win vs. BUF
- Trending: +5
- This Week: Bye
It’s been a strange couple weeks with the New York Jets between multiple receivers being connected to trades and then losing their star RB Breece Hall for the season. That didn’t stop them from putting together their strongest performance of the season against the Super Bowl favorites, though.
13. New England Patriots, 5-4
- Last Week: 26-3 win vs. IND
- Trending: +2
- This Week: Bye
Yes, seven of the teams residing in the East divisions land inside the top-13 this week. It’s for good reason as the Patriots put together a truly dominant win against the reeling Colts. Now, they get to rest up before a couple tough matchups to close out November.
14. San Francisco 49ers, 4-4
- Last Week: Bye
- Trending: -2
- This Week: 11/13 vs. LAC
The Niners got to rest up this week, and hopefully that time has allowed Deebo Samuel and others on this team to get healthy. The Niners have a tough matchup with the LA Chargers this week.
15. Los Angeles Chargers, 5-3
- Last Week: 20-17 win @ ATL
- Trending: -1
- This Week: 11/13 @ SF
The Chargers didn’t do a ton in this game to inspire confidence, but their defense got stops down the stretch, and a pair of fourth quarter field goal drives by the offense proved to be enough to win the game. That likely won’t be enough to beat the Niners coming off a bye week on Sunday night.
16. Atlanta Falcons, 4-5
- Last Week: 17-20 loss vs. LAC
- Trending: —
- This Week: 11/10 @ CAR
The Atlanta Falcons continue to be just good enough to hang around in games, but also just bad enough to fail at stringing wins together. They’ve now alternated wins and losses in each of the past six weeks. Perhaps they can keep the trend going on Thursday night against the Panthers.
17. Washington Commanders, 4-5
- Last Week: 17-20 loss vs. MIN
- Trending: +1
- This Week: 11/14 @ PHI
Taylor Heinicke and the Washington Commanders played another strong game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. However, a few blunders down the stretch, including a poor penalty that allowed Minnesota to drain the clock for their game-winning field goal, ultimately led to their demise.
18. Cleveland Browns, 3-5
- Last Week: Bye
- Trending: +2
- This Week: 11/13 @ MIA
The Browns took their bye week to celebrate a dominant Halloween victory over the Cincinnati Bengals a couple weeks back. Now, they get back into the swing of things against the explosive Dolphins offense.
19. Arizona Cardinals, 3-6
- Last Week: 21-31 loss vs. SEA
- Trending: —
- This Week: 11/13 @ LAR
After all the praise I gave the Cardinals defense ahead of their game against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 8, this is now their third consecutive game allowing 30+ points and their second consecutive loss. Fortunately, the Rams offense has not been an impressive unit for much of the year.
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 4-5
- Last Week: 16-13 win vs. LAR
- Trending: +8
- This Week: 11/13 vs. SEA
The Buccaneers didn’t play very well, but looking at the teams that were ahead of them last week, it’s not too unreasonable that they make this big a jump solely because they won a game.
21. Los Angeles Rams, 3-5
- Last Week: 13-16 loss @ TB
- Trending: -8
- This Week: 11/13 vs. ARI
I held out hope as long as I could for the defending champs, but they’ve continuously disappointed this season. Of course, now that they’ve officially free-fallen in the power rankings, they’ll probably find a way to get back on track over the next couple weeks.
22. Denver Broncos, 3-5
- Last Week: Bye
- Trending: +3
- This Week: 11/13 @ TEN
Again, similar to Tampa Bay, the bar isn’t too high to move up in this area of the rankings. The best thing Denver could have done while sitting in this 20-25 range was avoid playing a football game.
23. Jacksonville Jaguars, 3-6
- Last Week: 27-20 win vs. LV
- Trending: +6
- This Week: 11/13 @ KC
This game was a story of two halves, and fortunately for Jacksonville, it was the Jaguars who dominated the second half. Trevor Lawrence looked much closer to the version of himself that torched defenses early in the year. He’ll need to keep that up against Kansas City this week.
24. New Orleans Saints, 3-6
- Last Week: 13-27 loss vs. BAL
- Trending: -2
- This Week: 11/13 @ PIT
Injuries continue to pile up for the Saints, and the latest additions to the injured group are Marcus Davenport, Eric McCoy, and Pete Werner who all went down on Monday night against the Ravens. They now take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in a matchup that might have the lowest point total of the season.
25. Detroit Lions, 2-6
- Last Week: 15-9 win vs. GB
- Trending: +5
- This Week: 11/13 @ CHI
This wasn’t nearly the dominant defensive performance that it seemed to be, but Detroit made some very timely plays against the Packers. Ultimately, though, this win may come back to bite Detroit in April’s draft.
26. Green Bay Packers, 3-6
- Last Week: 9-15 loss @ DET
- Trending: -5
- This Week: 11/13 vs. DAL
This might have been the final nail in the coffin for the Packers season. The Aaron Rodgers hero-ball remains a strange strategy given the lack of receiver talent. That got even worse when Romeo Doubs left the game with an injury.
27. Pittsburgh Steelers, 2-6
- Last Week: Bye
- Trending: —
- This Week: 11/13 vs. NO
The Steelers are going to need to go on one hell of a run to avoid the first sub-.500 record of Mike Tomlin’s coaching tenure. It’s hard to find a more favorable matchup right now than the New Orleans Saints, so maybe this is where they start to turn things around.
28. Las Vegas Raiders, 2-6
- Last Week: 20-27 loss @ JAX
- Trending: -5
- This Week: 11/13 vs. IND
The raiders got off to a flaming hot start in the first half against Jackonville, but then they couldn’t score a single point in the second half. Surely, they’ll find a way to beat the Colts next week.
29. Chicago Bears, 3-6
- Last Week: 32-35 loss @ MIA
- Trending: +2
- This Week: 11/13 vs. DET
Justin Fields is playing the best football of his young career right now, especially now that the Bears have fully committed to using his legs as a weapon. The Bears may end up surprising a few teams over these next few weeks if they keep playing this way.
30. Indianapolis Colts, 3-5-1
- Last Week: 3-26 loss @ NE
- Trending: -6
- This Week: 11/13 @ LV
The Colts seem to have thrown in the towel over the past few weeks, and the latest indication of that is the confusing hire of Jeff Saturday as the interim head coach for the rest of the season. Jonathan Taylor’s lingering injury troubles don’t bode well moving forward, either.
31. Houston Texans, 1-6-1
- Last Week: 17-29 loss vs. PHI
- Trending: +1
- This Week: 11/13 @ NYG
If Houston played every week as well as they did in the first half against the Eagles, they’d be a rather competitive team. However, the second half brought them back down to Earth a little bit after the hot start. We’ll see if they can get back on track against another NFC East opponent this week.
32. Carolina Panthers, 2-7
- Last Week: 21-42 loss @ CIN
- Trending: -6
- This Week: 11/10 vs. ATL
Somehow, this game was even more of a blowout than the score indicated. Carolina got punched in the mouth by Joe Mixon and the Bengals offense, and one punch turned into a beatdown very quickly.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.